When it comes to the U.S. economy, count JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon as an optimist.

“This country has … the best universities and businesses, low corruption, the widest and deepest capital markets, is hugely innovative and has a wonderful work ethic,” he told CNBC.

Dimon isn’t deterred by the economy’s 1.8 percent growth rate for the first quarter and experts’ predictions that the second quarter will be worse.“We’ve got a world-trade flush,” he quipped.

“We don’t have a divine right to success. But we have an unbelievable hand. If we play it well, and now we’ve got natural gas and shale oil, we have a gift from God here. America’s going to come back, and it’s going to blow people’s socks off when it does.”

That doesn’t mean there won’t be some turbulence along the way, as the Federal Reserve exits its massive easing program, Dimon stressed.

“In the process of normalization, you’re going to have some volatility. You’re going to have rates go up,” he noted. “I’m not talking about next month, but over the next couple years. … I don’t know why anyone should be surprised by that.”

Not everyone is so optimistic, at least for the short term. United Parcel Service, the world’s biggest package delivery company, trimmed its 2013 earnings forecast Friday.